1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to filling out HyperText Markup language-like (HTML-like) forms that are sent to a multi-modal (e.g., audio-visual) browser, and in particular, to providing a synchronized presentation of the verbal and visual components of a form having fields requiring user provided input, and allowing the user to fill in the form with verbal or tactile (e.g., visual/manual) interaction, or a combination thereof.
2. Background Description
Known prior art browsers do not provide users with the ability to fill out the form by using either verbal or tactile interaction, or a combination thereof. Users must fill out a form either manually, such as by using a keyboard, mouse or touchscreen, or verbally. Users can not, however, use both in filling out a single form or set of related forms.
In the standard visual presentation of a form, the user is free to navigate the form, as it is being filled out, via a mouse, keyboard, touch screen or the like. Because this is difficult with an audio presentation, a conversational model may be provided where the form consists of numerous questions that are filled in sequentially (answering one question leads to the next). This method, however, hinders the tactile interaction with the form in known prior art browsers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,220 to Surukkai et al., entitled “Web Triggered Word Set Boosting for Speech Interfaces to the World Wide Web”, concerns performing word analysis on the recent past content and using this information to enhance the speech recognition of future commands.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,340 to Bertram et al., entitled “Mobile Client Computer Programmed to Predict Input”, concerns “predictive widgets”, which is an algorithm that attempts to predict the default values for various form fields.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,186 to Raman, entitled “Multimodal Information Presentation System”, concerns obtaining information, modeling it in a common intermediate representation, and providing multiple ways, or views, into the data. However, the patent is not concerned with a multi modal method of presenting and the explicit/implicit navigation of an HTML form construct.